更新時間 2009年 12月 30日, 格林尼治標準時間09:28
來自伊朗的報道說，一個支持政府的大規模遊行集會星期三將在伊朗各地舉行，以此回應反對派星期天的示威行動。
集會的組織者說，在首都，遊行隊伍將經過六條不同的路線向德黑蘭市中心集中。
伊朗政府指責西方國家挑起了星期天反對派和警方在德黑蘭發生的至少導致八人死亡的暴力衝突。
伊朗總統艾哈邁迪內賈德稱那次衝突是一場「由美國和以色列導演的令人作嘔的表演」。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/world/2009/12/091230_briefiranunrest.shtml
伊朗強硬路線份子以大型集會支持政府
Iran hard-liners back government in mass rallies
Reuters – Iran blames protests on foreigners
TEHRAN, Iran – Tens of thousands of hard-line government supporters turned out for state-sponsored rallies Wednesday, some of them calling for the execution of opposition leaders as Iran's police chief threatened to show "no mercy" in crushing any new protests by the pro-reform movement.
伊朗德黑蘭-數以萬計的強硬路線政府支持者出現在對國家贊助的星期三集會，其中一些要求處決反對派領導人，警察局長揚言對支持改革運動的任何新抗議，將會“毫不留情”地粉碎。
Pro-government rallies were staged in Shiraz, Arak, Qom and Tehran, among other cities. Demonstrators at a rally in Tehran chanted "Death to Mousavi," a reference to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Some shouted "Rioter hypocrites must be executed" and held up a banner that read: "We sacrifice our blood for the supreme leader."
The government gave all civil servants and employees a day off to attend the rallies and organized buses to transport groups of schoolchildren and supporters from outlying rural areas to the protests.
Hard-line cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda called opponents of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supporters of Satan.
"Enemies of the leader, according to the Quran, belong to the party of Satan," Alamolhoda told demonstrators in Tehran in comments broadcast on state TV. "Our war in the world is war against the opponents of the rule of the supreme leader."
In a surprising acknowledgment of the opposition's impact, Khamenei said Wednesday that the country's Islamic rulers have lost some supporters since the disputed presidential election in June first triggered the turmoil. Still, he blamed the pro-reform opposition leaders for Iran's problems.
"The reality in the society is that as some (supporters) dropped out, twice that number joined (us)," he said.
Police chief Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam warned protesters to stay off the streets or face harsh consequences. At least eight people were killed in street violence Sunday, the country's worst unrest since the aftermath of the June 12 election.
"In dealing with previous protests, police showed leniency. But given that these opponents are seeking to topple (the ruling system), there will be no mercy," Moghaddam said, according to the official news agency IRNA. "We will take severe action. The era of tolerance is over. Anyone attending such rallies will be crushed."
One of those killed Sunday was the nephew of Mousavi. Iran's deputy police chief said Ali Mousavi was assassinated by unidentified assailants and not killed by security forces.
Ali Mousavi was buried Wednesday in a hastily organized ceremony. Authorities had taken his body from the hospital earlier in the week in what was seen as an attempt to prevent the funeral from turning into another pro-opposition protest.
The opposition says Ali Mousavi was shot and killed by security forces. But Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, was quoted by IRNA as saying that the way he was killed suggests he was assassinated while walking. The New York Times has quoted a family friend as saying he was run over by a vehicle outside his home in an assassination.
The opposition leader and other family members attended the funeral.
Iranian authorities faced uncomfortable questions about a graphic video broadcast on the Internet purportedly from Sunday's demonstrations. It showed two white police pickup trucks, with large bullbars on the front bumpers, plowing separately into a group of protesters.
One truck is first seen driving into the crowd, then reversing away from a body lying face down on the asphalt. The second truck then speeds up and runs over the body, lying in a pool of blood, as people nearby cry out. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.
When asked about the video and whether police trucks intentionally ran over people, Moghaddam became enraged. "Don't ask lies," he said. "There are no pictures showing police cars running over people."
The police chief said more than 500 protesters who took part in Sunday's demonstrations have been arrested but the number may be higher since hard-line Basij militiamen and intelligence agents may have apprehended more people on their own.
The deputy, Radan, said police have a video showing a black car running over two people during Sunday's violence. He said the owner of the car had been arrested but provided no other details.
There are increasing fears Mousavi could also be arrested, after the detention of a number of prominent activists and the sister of Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.
The government has also limited the movement of a leading opposition figure, Mahdi Karroubi, by refusing to protect him when he leaves his home.
Karroubi and Mousavi were the two defeated reformist candidates in the disputed June election, which set off the worst unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Authorities are also tightly restricting media coverage of street rallies. Internet access in the country is sporadic, as are cell phone and text messaging services.
Sunday's deadly protests coincided with Ashoura, the most solemn day of the year for Shiite Muslims. The observance commemorates the seventh-century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints, and it conveys a message of sacrifice in the face of repression.
Hard-liners are especially furious that some of the protesters insulted the supreme leader, casting aside a taboo on personal criticism of the leader. The government has said the protesters are a tiny minority and accused the U.S. and Britain of organizing the opposition.
The hard-line criticism has become increasingly vocal, with some activists threatening to take the law into their own hands.
The arrests, along with the tough criticism of the U.S. and Britain, added to rising tensions with the West, which is threatening to impose tough new sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear program and has criticized the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
On Wednesday the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged the government to keep security forces from using excessive force. She said she was "shocked by the upsurge in deaths, injuries and arrests" and stressed the people have the right to peacefully protest without being beaten and thrown into jail.
___
Associated Press Writer Eliane Engeler contributed to this report from Geneva.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran
簡訊：伊朗指責西方挑起暴力抗議
更新時間 2009年 12月 29日, 格林尼治標準時間19:15
伊朗指責西方勢力挑起了星期日在德黑蘭發生的導致8人死亡的暴力抗議。
伊朗總統艾哈邁迪內賈德說，星期日的抗議是美國和以色列導演的鬧劇。
伊朗外交部長穆塔基發出警告說，如果英國繼續胡說八道，將會得到一記耳光。
星期一，美國總統奧巴馬譴責了他所稱的對無辜伊朗民眾的鎮壓，英國外交大臣米利班德則讚揚伊朗示威者富有勇氣。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/world/2009/12/091229_brief_iran_unrest.shtml
伊朗數名主要反對派人物被拘捕
伊朗官方媒體稱在周日衝突中有至少八人喪生
來自伊朗的消息說，在星期天反對派支持者與安全部隊發生暴力衝突導致至少八人喪生後，好幾名主要的反對派人物受到拘捕。
那些被拘捕的人包括一名資深反對派活動人士易卜拉希姆・亞茲迪和主要反對派領袖穆薩維的多名顧問。
易卜拉希姆・亞茲迪曾在1979年伊斯蘭革命後擔任伊朗外交部長，現在是反對派組織-「伊朗自由運動」的領導人。
亞茲迪的家人告訴本台BBC，星期一早晨他同他的侄子一道在家中被捕。
另有報道說，一名與穆薩維非常接近的高級神職人員在伊朗西北部什葉派聖城庫姆被捕。
伊朗一家電視台報道說，在衝突中被打死的人數從8人到15人不等。
此前，伊朗主要反對派領袖之一卡魯比譴責了政府暴力鎮壓周日在德黑蘭和其他城市發生的示威活動。
卡魯比說，安全部隊在什葉派穆斯林的宗教節日阿舒拉當天開槍殺人是前所未有的。
伊朗警方否認向示威人群開槍。
伊朗一個反對派網站說，警方在星期一施放催淚彈，以驅散反對派領導人穆薩維的支持者。
這些支持者當時正聚集在一家醫院門口，對在周日反政府示威中喪生的穆薩維的侄子表示哀悼。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/world/2009/12/091228_iran_arrests.shtml
對抗繼續在伊朗
Confrontation persists in Iran
DUBAI, 十二月 29, 2009
Iran’s opposition and the establishment are persisting with their confrontation which touched a new high on Sunday when eight people died during violent protests.
Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has said on Monday authorities had arrested her sister, Nooshin, a medical professor. She added that the step had been taken to dissuade her from pursing human rights work.
“I am not aware of the place of her detention or the reason for her arrest,” said Ms. Ebadi in comments posted on opposition website Rahesabz.
“Over the last two months my sister has been summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence several times and asked to convince me to give up my human rights activities. She was also told to move from her house, which is near my flat and they threatened to arrest her. My sister has not been involved in any social, human rights and political activities,” she observed.
During Sunday’s protest, which coincided with Ashura, a day commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the nephew of the opposition leader, Mir-Hosain Mousavi had been shot dead. Opposition websites said on Monday some key inner-circle members of Mr. Mousavi, who had lost the disputed June 12 presidential elections to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had also been picked up.
However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), widely viewed as the backbone of the current regime, focused on the foreign media and accused it of waging a “psychological war” in collaboration with the opposition. “Trying to overthrow the system will reach nowhere,” the ISNA news agency quoted the IRGC as saying. “Designers of the unrest will soon pay the cost of their insolence.” Some lawmakers called for “maximum punishment” for those involved in the unrest.
Taking exception to the position adopted by the United States and Britain in support of the protesters, Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani said, “U.S. and British officials’ disgraceful comments about the sacrilegious events of Ashura are so disgustingly vivid that they clarify where this movement stands when it comes to destroying religious and Revolutionary values.” Mr. Larijani also accused Israel and Saudi Arabia’s media for worsening the political situation.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast accused “certain individuals” of stoking a “rebellion.” He added that foreign support to protesters amounted to “interference in internal affairs” of Iran.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article72531.ece
Iran hard-liners back government in mass rallies
Reuters – Iran blames protests on foreigners
TEHRAN, Iran – Tens of thousands of hard-line government supporters turned out for state-sponsored rallies Wednesday, some of them calling for the execution of opposition leaders as Iran's police chief threatened to show "no mercy" in crushing any new protests by the pro-reform movement.
伊朗德黑蘭-數以萬計的強硬路線政府支持者出現在對國家贊助的星期三集會，其中一些要求處決反對派領導人，警察局長揚言對支持改革運動的任何新抗議，將會“毫不留情”地粉碎。
Pro-government rallies were staged in Shiraz, Arak, Qom and Tehran, among other cities. Demonstrators at a rally in Tehran chanted "Death to Mousavi," a reference to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Some shouted "Rioter hypocrites must be executed" and held up a banner that read: "We sacrifice our blood for the supreme leader."
The government gave all civil servants and employees a day off to attend the rallies and organized buses to transport groups of schoolchildren and supporters from outlying rural areas to the protests.
Hard-line cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda called opponents of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei supporters of Satan.
"Enemies of the leader, according to the Quran, belong to the party of Satan," Alamolhoda told demonstrators in Tehran in comments broadcast on state TV. "Our war in the world is war against the opponents of the rule of the supreme leader."
In a surprising acknowledgment of the opposition's impact, Khamenei said Wednesday that the country's Islamic rulers have lost some supporters since the disputed presidential election in June first triggered the turmoil. Still, he blamed the pro-reform opposition leaders for Iran's problems.
"The reality in the society is that as some (supporters) dropped out, twice that number joined (us)," he said.
Police chief Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam warned protesters to stay off the streets or face harsh consequences. At least eight people were killed in street violence Sunday, the country's worst unrest since the aftermath of the June 12 election.
"In dealing with previous protests, police showed leniency. But given that these opponents are seeking to topple (the ruling system), there will be no mercy," Moghaddam said, according to the official news agency IRNA. "We will take severe action. The era of tolerance is over. Anyone attending such rallies will be crushed."
One of those killed Sunday was the nephew of Mousavi. Iran's deputy police chief said Ali Mousavi was assassinated by unidentified assailants and not killed by security forces.
Ali Mousavi was buried Wednesday in a hastily organized ceremony. Authorities had taken his body from the hospital earlier in the week in what was seen as an attempt to prevent the funeral from turning into another pro-opposition protest.
The opposition says Ali Mousavi was shot and killed by security forces. But Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, was quoted by IRNA as saying that the way he was killed suggests he was assassinated while walking. The New York Times has quoted a family friend as saying he was run over by a vehicle outside his home in an assassination.
The opposition leader and other family members attended the funeral.
Iranian authorities faced uncomfortable questions about a graphic video broadcast on the Internet purportedly from Sunday's demonstrations. It showed two white police pickup trucks, with large bullbars on the front bumpers, plowing separately into a group of protesters.
One truck is first seen driving into the crowd, then reversing away from a body lying face down on the asphalt. The second truck then speeds up and runs over the body, lying in a pool of blood, as people nearby cry out. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.
When asked about the video and whether police trucks intentionally ran over people, Moghaddam became enraged. "Don't ask lies," he said. "There are no pictures showing police cars running over people."
The police chief said more than 500 protesters who took part in Sunday's demonstrations have been arrested but the number may be higher since hard-line Basij militiamen and intelligence agents may have apprehended more people on their own.
The deputy, Radan, said police have a video showing a black car running over two people during Sunday's violence. He said the owner of the car had been arrested but provided no other details.
There are increasing fears Mousavi could also be arrested, after the detention of a number of prominent activists and the sister of Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.
The government has also limited the movement of a leading opposition figure, Mahdi Karroubi, by refusing to protect him when he leaves his home.
Karroubi and Mousavi were the two defeated reformist candidates in the disputed June election, which set off the worst unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Authorities are also tightly restricting media coverage of street rallies. Internet access in the country is sporadic, as are cell phone and text messaging services.
Sunday's deadly protests coincided with Ashoura, the most solemn day of the year for Shiite Muslims. The observance commemorates the seventh-century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints, and it conveys a message of sacrifice in the face of repression.
Hard-liners are especially furious that some of the protesters insulted the supreme leader, casting aside a taboo on personal criticism of the leader. The government has said the protesters are a tiny minority and accused the U.S. and Britain of organizing the opposition.
The hard-line criticism has become increasingly vocal, with some activists threatening to take the law into their own hands.
The arrests, along with the tough criticism of the U.S. and Britain, added to rising tensions with the West, which is threatening to impose tough new sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear program and has criticized the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
On Wednesday the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged the government to keep security forces from using excessive force. She said she was "shocked by the upsurge in deaths, injuries and arrests" and stressed the people have the right to peacefully protest without being beaten and thrown into jail.
___
Associated Press Writer Eliane Engeler contributed to this report from Geneva.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran
簡訊：伊朗指責西方挑起暴力抗議
更新時間 2009年 12月 29日, 格林尼治標準時間19:15
伊朗指責西方勢力挑起了星期日在德黑蘭發生的導致8人死亡的暴力抗議。
伊朗總統艾哈邁迪內賈德說，星期日的抗議是美國和以色列導演的鬧劇。
伊朗外交部長穆塔基發出警告說，如果英國繼續胡說八道，將會得到一記耳光。
星期一，美國總統奧巴馬譴責了他所稱的對無辜伊朗民眾的鎮壓，英國外交大臣米利班德則讚揚伊朗示威者富有勇氣。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/world/2009/12/091229_brief_iran_unrest.shtml
伊朗數名主要反對派人物被拘捕
伊朗官方媒體稱在周日衝突中有至少八人喪生
來自伊朗的消息說，在星期天反對派支持者與安全部隊發生暴力衝突導致至少八人喪生後，好幾名主要的反對派人物受到拘捕。
那些被拘捕的人包括一名資深反對派活動人士易卜拉希姆・亞茲迪和主要反對派領袖穆薩維的多名顧問。
易卜拉希姆・亞茲迪曾在1979年伊斯蘭革命後擔任伊朗外交部長，現在是反對派組織-「伊朗自由運動」的領導人。
亞茲迪的家人告訴本台BBC，星期一早晨他同他的侄子一道在家中被捕。
另有報道說，一名與穆薩維非常接近的高級神職人員在伊朗西北部什葉派聖城庫姆被捕。
伊朗一家電視台報道說，在衝突中被打死的人數從8人到15人不等。
此前，伊朗主要反對派領袖之一卡魯比譴責了政府暴力鎮壓周日在德黑蘭和其他城市發生的示威活動。
卡魯比說，安全部隊在什葉派穆斯林的宗教節日阿舒拉當天開槍殺人是前所未有的。
伊朗警方否認向示威人群開槍。
伊朗一個反對派網站說，警方在星期一施放催淚彈，以驅散反對派領導人穆薩維的支持者。
這些支持者當時正聚集在一家醫院門口，對在周日反政府示威中喪生的穆薩維的侄子表示哀悼。
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/trad/world/2009/12/091228_iran_arrests.shtml
對抗繼續在伊朗
Confrontation persists in Iran
DUBAI, 十二月 29, 2009
Iran’s opposition and the establishment are persisting with their confrontation which touched a new high on Sunday when eight people died during violent protests.
Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has said on Monday authorities had arrested her sister, Nooshin, a medical professor. She added that the step had been taken to dissuade her from pursing human rights work.
“I am not aware of the place of her detention or the reason for her arrest,” said Ms. Ebadi in comments posted on opposition website Rahesabz.
“Over the last two months my sister has been summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence several times and asked to convince me to give up my human rights activities. She was also told to move from her house, which is near my flat and they threatened to arrest her. My sister has not been involved in any social, human rights and political activities,” she observed.
During Sunday’s protest, which coincided with Ashura, a day commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the nephew of the opposition leader, Mir-Hosain Mousavi had been shot dead. Opposition websites said on Monday some key inner-circle members of Mr. Mousavi, who had lost the disputed June 12 presidential elections to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had also been picked up.
However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), widely viewed as the backbone of the current regime, focused on the foreign media and accused it of waging a “psychological war” in collaboration with the opposition. “Trying to overthrow the system will reach nowhere,” the ISNA news agency quoted the IRGC as saying. “Designers of the unrest will soon pay the cost of their insolence.” Some lawmakers called for “maximum punishment” for those involved in the unrest.
Taking exception to the position adopted by the United States and Britain in support of the protesters, Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani said, “U.S. and British officials’ disgraceful comments about the sacrilegious events of Ashura are so disgustingly vivid that they clarify where this movement stands when it comes to destroying religious and Revolutionary values.” Mr. Larijani also accused Israel and Saudi Arabia’s media for worsening the political situation.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast accused “certain individuals” of stoking a “rebellion.” He added that foreign support to protesters amounted to “interference in internal affairs” of Iran.
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article72531.ece
伊朗反對派領袖姪子參與示威喪生 屍體失蹤
(法新社)2009年12月29日 星期二 00:50
（法新社德黑蘭 28日電） 伊朗 反對派領袖墨沙維（Mir Houssein Mousavi）的姪子阿里墨沙維（Seyed Ali Mousavi）在德黑蘭示威抗議活動中遇害，他的弟弟今天告訴一個網站，阿里墨沙維的屍體被從醫院搬走，不知去向。
他對Parlemannews網站說：「我哥哥的屍體從醫院被抬走，我們怎麼也找不到。」這個網站由國會裡改革派的一個小派系所經營。
「沒有人願意為屍體被運走負責．．．在找到屍體之前，我們無法舉辦葬禮。」
墨沙維35歲的姪子昨天在德黑蘭的示威活動中被槍殺身亡，成為幾個月來，反對派示威人士和安全部隊間最血腥的衝突事件。
德黑蘭警方說，他們正在調查這起死亡事件。（譯者：中央社羅苑韶）
.
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/091228/8/fuvu.html
德黑蘭街頭示威 反對派主要人物在家中被捕
(法新社)2009年12月28日 星期一 16:20
（法新社德黑蘭 28日電） 伊朗 Rahesabz網站報導，曾在1979年伊斯蘭革命開始時擔任外交部長的重要反對派人物雅茲迪（Ebrahim Yazdi），今天上午在家中被捕。
Rahesabz網站說，雅茲迪目前是非法但被容許的組織「伊朗自由運動」（Iran Freedom Movement）秘書長，他今天清晨在家中被捕，並被安全幹員帶往不明地點。
網站又說，情報部辦公室21日曾傳喚他，但他並沒有前往應訊。（譯者：中央社羅苑韶)
http://hk.news.yaho.com/article/091228/8/fus5.html
國營電視台：德黑蘭街頭衝突超過15人喪生
(法新社)2009年12月28日 星期一 16:35
（法新社德黑蘭 28日電） 伊朗 國營電視台今天說，超過15人在德黑蘭街頭暴動中喪生，其中超過10人是「反革命恐怖」團體成員。
報導說，另有5人在德黑蘭昨天發生的激烈衝突中為「恐怖團體」殺害。
國營電視台網站說：「在一場可疑的行動中，5人遭恐怖團體殺害，而情報部宣佈，超過10名反革命恐怖團體成員被擊斃。」
伊朗幾個改革派網站今天說，安全部隊殺害反對派領袖墨沙維（Mir Hossein Mousavi）的一個姪子，警方確認有5人在德黑蘭大型反政府集會中喪生。（譯者：中央社羅苑韶）
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/091228/8/fus6.html
伊朗示威:反對派領袖Mir Hossein Mousavi的姪兒被射殺
Iran protests: Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's nephew shot dead
Iranian security forces have shot and killed a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi during the fiercest clashes with anti-government protesters in months.
伊朗安全部隊已在數月來的最兇懇反政府示威衝突中，射殺 反對派領袖Mir Hossein Mousavi的姪兒
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Opposition leader Mousavi's nephew among eight dead in Iran protests
Published: 5:07PM GMT 27 Dec 2009
At least eight people are thought to have died in clashes across the country, according to opposition web sites and witnesses.
Amateur video footage from the centre of Tehran showed an enraged crowd carrying away one of the casualties, chanting, "I'll kill, I'll kill the one who killed my brother".
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In several locations in the capital, demonstrators fought back furiously against security forces, hurling stones and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze, according to video footage and pro-reform websites.
Demonstrations also took place in at least three other cities.
A close aide to Mousavi, a presidential contender in a disputed June election, said the 35-year-old nephew, Ali Mousavi, died of injuries in a Tehran hospital. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisals from the government.
Mousavi's web site and another reformist web site, Parlemannews.ir, also said Ali Mousavi was killed during fighting in which security forces reportedly fired on demonstrators. It was not immediately clear whether he was counted among the four who died.
The protesters in Tehran tried to cut off roads with burning barricades that filled the sky with billowing black smoke. One police officer was photographed with blood streaming down his face after he was set upon by the crowd in a blazing street.
The protests began with thousands of opposition supporters chanting "Death to the dictator," a reference to hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as they took to the streets in defiance of official warnings of a harsh crackdown on any demonstrations coinciding with a religious observance on Sunday. Iranians were marking Ashoura, commemorating the seventh-century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.
Security forces tried but failed to disperse protesters on a central Tehran street with tear gas, charges by baton-wielding officers and warning shots fired into the air. They then opened fire directly at protesters, killing at least three people, said witnesses and the pro-reform web site Rah-e-Sabz. A fourth protester was shot dead on a nearby street, they said.
Witnesses said one victim was an elderly man who had a gunshot wound to the forehead. He was seen being carried away by opposition supporters with blood covering his face.
More than two dozen opposition supporters were injured, some of them seriously, with limbs broken from beatings, according to witnesses. There were also violent confrontations in at least three other major cities: Isfahan and Najafabad in central Iran and Shiraz in the south.
The clashes marked the bloodiest confrontation between protesters and security forces since the height of the unrest in the weeks after June's election. The opposition says Ahmadinejad won the election through massive vote fraud and that Mousavi was the true winner.
Reporters from foreign media organisations were barred from covering the demonstrations on Tehran's central Enghelab Street, or Revolution Street, and the reports of deaths could not be independently confirmed. Video footage circulating on the Web could also not be authenticated.
Ambulance sirens could be heard near the site of the protests.
The witnesses and opposition web sites said angry protesters threw stones at security forces and set dozens of their motorbikes on fire. Police helicopters circled overhead as clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky over the capital.
Tehran's police chief denied officers fired on the crowd – or that they were even armed.
"No report of death has been sent to the police," Azizollah Rajabzadeh said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. "No one has been killed. Police did not open fire and the present officers did not carry weapons."
Police had blocked streets leading to the centre of the capital to try to prevent thousands of people from joining the protest. Still, many opposition supporters managed to break the security wall.
Fierce clashes also broke out Sunday between security forces and opposition supporters in the cities of Isfahan and Najafabad in central Iran, the Rah-e-Sabz web site said.
Cell phone services were down and internet connections were slowed to a crawl, as has happened during most other days of opposition protest in an apparent government attempt to limit publicity and prevent protesters from organising.
Opposition activists have held a series of anti-government protests since the death of a dissident cleric last week.
The Dec. 20 death of the 87-year-old Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a sharp critic of Iran's leaders, has given a new push to opposition protests, which have endured despite a heavy security crackdown since the election.
His memorials have brought out not only the young, urban activists who filled the ranks of earlier protests, but also older, more religious Iranians who revered Montazeri on grounds of faith as much as politics. Tens of thousands marched in his funeral procession in the holy city of Qom on Monday, many chanting slogans against the government.
Iran's police chief, Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, had threatened tougher action against protesters on Sunday should they hold rallies.
Opposition leaders have used holidays and other symbolic days in recent months to stage anti-government rallies.
Iran is under pressure both from its domestic opposition within the country and from the United States and its European allies, which are pushing Iran to suspend key parts of its nuclear program.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6895857/Iran-protests-Opposition-leader-Mir-Hossein-Mousavis-nephew-shot-dead.html
